| LED Digest 2236: Like Trees Falling in a Forest |
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Wondering about press releases? Here's the scoop: journalists are lazy.
A good press release is something that a journalist can take, make one or two minor changes, then publish leaving plenty of time to get to the pub.
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======== CONTINUING ===============================The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ............................................. August 30, 2006 Issue no. 2236 ............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Press Releases ==-- ~ Lee Odden "Encourage distribution and syndication of the release content via RSS..." ~ Steven Rothberg "So press releases are normally like trees falling in a forest." ~ John Smart "I feel I can speak with a little authority on the matter..." --== Small Business Sites ==-- ~ Allan Gardyne "I want readers to know that it can be done." ~ Nancy Schettler "...that's about eight families that my homemade websites are helping to feed." ~ Mark Whitman "LEDers are making an effort to learn the fine points of developing effective websites..." --== Hidden Frames ==-- ~ Stephen Mareches "[Sub-domains] don't tend to do well in Search Engine Rankings..." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Site Analytics - Terminology? ==-- ~ John Brumage From: Lee Odden Subject: Press releases > We are considering a Press Release > for one of our niche sites. - Joe Bodnarchuk, LED 2235 Hey Joe, Press releases are tools like any other marketing tactic and can be useful in a variety of ways based on your objective. Here are a few things to consider regarding press releases: 1. Write the release with keywords in mind - similar to an optimized web page 2. Distribute the release through a wire service like PRWeb.com, PR.com, PR Newswire or Business Wire 3. Research publications / journalists and blogs that might be interested in your news and send them a short summary of the news via email with a link to the full press release 4. Encourage distribution and syndication of the release content via RSS 5. Embed tracking IDs in URLs within the release and/or use a landing page to determine your success metrics 6. Monitor pickups of the release with Google News Alerts, Yahoo Alerts and RSS feeds from blog search engines. When bloggers post about your release, be sure to comment. Here's an article that may be of use in case you want to write, distribute and promote the release yourself: "Lowdown on Press Release Optimization" http://snipurl.com/vp4b [toprankblog.com] Lee Odden TopRank Online Marketing http://www.toprankresults.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Steven Rothberg Subject: Press Releases > From my preliminary research press releases seem > to be a rather inexpensive way to get the word out. - Joe Bodnarchuk, LED 2235 Press releases are a rather inexpensive way of getting the word out but also a rather ineffective way. They only work if your press release is (1) actually news and not just self-serving information that is only of interest to those who closely follow the company, which almost all are; (2) the press release actually being read by a journalist, which almost none are; (3) the journalist is working on a story about the same issue at the same time that your press release arrives, which is rare; and (4) the journalist and her editor believing that your information will add to that story, which is also rare unless your organization is well known. So press releases are normally like trees falling in a forest. If there aren't any journalists there to hear them, do they really get heard? That said, we still send out press releases because if sent properly they get picked up by Google, Yahoo, and MSN and some additional links to your site from the search engines never hurts. But the vast majority of our press coverage (and we get a lot) comes from our subscription to PR Leads. (Full disclosure: PR Leads is owned by a friend, Dan Janal.) For $99 per month, you will receive leads via email in your areas of interest from journalists who are writing stories and looking for people to quote. You answer the emails and either wait for the phone to ring if they want to interview you or sometimes your quote just ends up in their story even without an interview. Because of PR Leads, I am regularly quoted by major wire services and publications such as the Associated Press, Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. If you contact Dan Janal This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , tell him that I referred you. Maybe he'll take me to a Twins game this October (not so subtle jab at White Sox fans). Steven Rothberg, President and Founder CollegeRecruiter.com | Entry Level Jobs for Students & Recent Graduates! http://www.collegerecruiter.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: John Smart Subject: Press releases Press releases are wonderful, if done right. I feel I can speak with a little authority on the matter as I was the copy editor for m2 communications presswire service when it launched (M2.com). For a fee (I have no idea how much, I left the company a long time ago) your press release will get distributed to well, just about everywhere. However, as well as putting all the press releases online, I had to 'flag' interesting ones for the M2 newsrooms. This is what editors want: - If you have a new employee - unless it is a major player in either the industry or the community, they won't care - If your profits are up, unless it is by a substantial amount, they won't care - If you have a new technology which has helped you to catch up with everyone else, they won't care - If you have a new product, service, patent or are holding some sort of gathering, they will care. If you are releasing new software, book(s) or e-book(s) they will care. A good process release needs a good headline - if I did not know what the press release was about by the third line, it went in the circular file. A good headline is very important. I feel I have worked with enough journalists, and done enough journalistic work to safely say: Journalists are lazy. A good press release is something that a journalist can take, make one or two minor changes, then publish leaving plenty of time to get to the pub. If he has to call you for clarification, or go get some lunch - which do you think he will do? (It's hungry work, being a journalist!) If your press release is more than two pages long - it is too long. If you cannot get all that data in to two pages, then don't! Put in teasers, and link to a fuller version online. Start with the date - papers do not want old news. Do not send out embargoed news - no one can be bothered, and it will be tossed away (embargoed is when you send out news ahead of time - Ferrari can get away with it, as can the Red Socks, but not the rest of us) At the end of your press release, you should put in two sections. Notes to editors, and contact details. They could read something like: Notes to editors LED Digest was launched in 1997 and shares news on website promotions with well over 35,000 subscribers spanning more than 120 countries. The associated website has a searchable database of over eighteen thousand articles on hundreds of topics relating to internet businesses. Subscribing to the LED is completely free of charge and will put you in a discussion with thousands of successful individuals who are after the same goal - online success. Contact details For any questions, please contact Adam Audette, List moderator via e-Mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or by phone: 1-800 555 5555 The website can be found at: http://www.led-digest.com I hope this helps. When you watch your local news at night and the last story makes you think 'why is that on the news - how do they know about that) - press release!! When you read a short magazine article and think 'this reads more like an advert than an article' - press release. Oh - and do you ever see competitors interviewed for their opinions on tv stations? That happens either because they are related to the producer, or they send in press releases, so the TV station knows where to find them (TV Journalists are no better than print journalists!) I hope this helps, John Smart InternetDesign.com - A Human Touch in a Digital World -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Allan Gardyne Subject: Small Business Sites > If the business owner doesn't have ... a few > thousand dollars to spend to have the job > done well, my question would be - "so... > what are you going to do when you're bankrupt?" :) - Mark Whitman, LED 2234 In an ideal world, I'm sure you're right. The most effective path is to hire an expert to build your website for you. However, let's not discourage the struggling newcomers who don't live in an ideal world. It's possible to pull yourself up by the bootstraps in business, and the Internet is the ideal place to do so. When I began marketing on the Internet in 1996, I was working part-time and flat broke. I built my first website, written in raw HTML, after reading a two-page article in a magazine which described how to do it. Ten years later, after only VERY minimal changes, that ancient, hardly touched site now earns about $100 a week from AdSense. It's not serious money, but to someone in Bulgaria or Romania or Malaysia, or lots other places around the world, it would be very useful. In spite of my lack of expertise, I went on to create other sites, including a sprawling monster of a site which has attracted 2 million visitors in the past year. My amateurish sites generate enough revenue for me to employ three full-time employees and a few part-timers. To my modest vision, that's something better than the "pathetic" results Mark expects from a self-taught website owner. I'm proud of the fact that I started with a budget of about zero and built a business. I want readers to know that it can be done. I love getting emails from people who thank me for helping them to quit their day jobs. I'm sorry I can't show you that untidy, sprawling monster. We've just given the old girl a new dress, tidied up, added new sections and new articles and relaunched AssociatePrograms.com. I hope its more professional appearance meets your approval, Mark. All the best Allan Gardyne http://www.associateprograms.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Nancy Schettler Subject: Do-it-yourself website builders Well, gee, Mark... as for a small business owner building their own website... I guess it depends on exactly how small you are! When you start with next to nothing, you have nothing to spend to buy a professionally designed website. As someone once described it to me, having a website (if you're an "unknown" business) is rather like putting up a billboard in the middle of the desert. You're not sure that anyone will ever read it! So it doesn't necessarily make any sense to spend thousands of dollars to create it. If you can make it yourself, for little or nothing, at least you can see if you get any results at all, and then go from there. My websites are not "professional", and I'm sure that there plenty of room for improvement in looks, functionality, performance, and volume of sales generated. Still, they have worked well enough that the business has gone from just me-myself-and I five years ago, to six "official" employees, plus several work-at-home helpers. The way I look at it, that's about eight families that my homemade websites are helping to feed. I never aspired to be a business owner. I consider myself fortunate to be in a position where I'm able to write out handful of paychecks every week. And at the end of the day, I'm happy with what my little do-it-yourself effort has achieved. Nancy Schettler Favorite Fabrics / A Well Dressed Kitchen www.favoritefabrics.com www.awelldressedkitchen.com -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Mark Whitman Subject: Small biz sites > While small business owners (SBOs) may not all be web > savvy designers or SEO gurus with the ability to create sites > full of bells and whistles, thousands of us DO create successful > websites that convert well and place well in the search > engines. Plenty of well-documented proof of this exists. - Kerri Mackenzie, LED 2235 Well, I'm a bit of a rabble-rouser and this mailing list gets a little boring sometimes so I injected a bunch of inflammatory stuff in LED 2234 to shake things up a little. I agree that some people who are not professional developers do put together commercial websites that get the job done. What I left out of my comments was that people such as those on this list aren't really the people I was referring to. LEDers are making an effort to learn the fine points of developing effective websites and I'm sure some have eventually become successful at that - it's not really rocket science, but it's also not intuitive. I've learned things from this list too. I never meant to imply however that "sites full of bells and whistles" are necessary or even desirable, they typically stink. The SBOs I was really referring to as having no chance of creating an effective commercial website are those who grab an HTML editor and make little or no effort to learn effective techniques for making the site successful to the max. They often think that creating a website is the same as creating a magazine ad or brochure - wrong! I was referring more to high end strategies and techniques than anything else, that's what the true pros bring to the table, and that's what no SBO with no website development / marketing training could possible achieve. If they could, what's the point of this mailing list? > I sincerely hope Mr. Whitman's client list doesn't > contain any small business owners. They would > likely not appreciate his opinion of them. And I sincerely hope you continue to enjoy a nice income from your site that has "plenty of room for improvement". Don't you think that if you took some of the income from your site and invested in some professional talent you'd likely increase your income many fold (I do ;). BTW, although I don't accept new customers, I try to focus more on personal projects, I have a core of ongoing repeat customers all of whom are fairly small businesses who use me exclusively (I know because I do their hosting :) and some even have employees who subscribe to this list. > I can tell you that Mark's attitude would not only > result in an abrupt termination of any sales call > he made on us, but a warning to anyone else > to avoid him like the plague. - Tracy Coyle, LED 2235 Wanna bet? That's not a question, that's my pitch. I rarely go out looking for work anymore but when I do I do it on a 100% performance basis. There was a time when offering services on a performance basis was more common on the net. Too bad it's not as common anymore because it sure separates the good, the bad and the ugly. If I were to buy any form of 'net marketing services, including SEO, I would only do so on a performance basis and that's the only way I offer services. I find a site I know is weak and bet the owner I will double either targeted traffic, conversion or both within a given time frame or they owe me nothing, even if I hit only 99% increase. I charge a hefty price for that but I have never lost one of those bets. You'd avoid an offer like that like the plague? Whatever. I'd like to see all people who buy 'net marketing services more insistent on performance based payment. Hold your provider accountable. The good one's will come through and the others will go away. M.Whitman -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Stephen Mareches Subject: Hidden frames > Instead of the hidden frame, ask them to > set up a sub-domain for you. - Brad Waller, LED 2230 Brad, We did some digging around regarding sub-domains, also known as vanity domains. From what I've read these little guys don't tend to do well in Search Engine Rankings as some search engines tend to ignore them. So this may not really solve the indexing problem. If you have further information, that would be enlightening. Glad this point was brought up; we're working on a community forum project for Metro Atlanta and were thinking of using a framed page on the parent site to display the contents of the forum as it most likely will reside on a different server. I did wonder if search engines would index the forum's content and now from what I've read here on LED, that doesn't appear to be a good option. Stephen Mareches Sophia Solutions www.sophiasolutions.net ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: John "Zeke" Brumage Subject: Terminology > ... what do each of these numbers actually > indicate: Hits, Files, Pages, Visits, Sites, KBytes. - Ray Hadorn, LED 2235 A hit is a file request from your web server. A page with 5 images on it would generate 6 hits -- 1 hit for the HTML and another 5 for the images. A FILE is usually considered a hit resulting in the transfer of a file. A PAGE is just that, an HTML page. A VISIT is the downloading of one or more files by a single IP address within a certain amount of time. A SITE is the IP address where one or more VISITS originated; a site might also be called a UNIQUE visitor. A KBYTE (KILOBYTE) is the transfer from the website of 1024 BYTES (which are 8 BITS long,) of data. Most web hosting contracts specify a cap on the total transfer each month, generally stated as MEGABYTES (1,048,576 bytes) a thousand Kbytes, or GIGABYTES, a million KILOBYTES. A REFERRER is a web page where a visitor clicked a link to get to the present element. I have found studying this helps in determining where to advertise or request links. The PATH is a list of pages viewed in a visit. ENTRY PAGE the first page a visitor finds EXIT PAGE the last page a visitor downloads Most log analyzers attempt to compute other numbers such as the average time per page, and generally pull out details about the search engines and search terms. John Brumage Results 1 - 10 of about 19,500 for disco legend zeke
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